2019/09/20 - On The Rebound

[Gameb18oy]

On the topic of former humans, I'd like to see a bird or reptile transformation take place. I'm imagining a cobra along the lines of Ajar from Sahara.

Was about to see if I can argue against this being possible... but at least a bird is possible considering that crow in Max's flashback. It's unclear if aside from that one snake way back in the first zoo arc (of which frustratingly only 2 have not exclusively focused on the roos, and yes I am still bitter about Rick's favoritism) if reptiles can be intelligent, and even then, it might be in a place similar to the dolphins where they can speak and plot world domination... but don't mistake that from them having true intelligence.

Kinda wonder if the first human turned bird would have an even worse day then Marion. On one hand, they can fly, their animal superpowers are obvious... but if Kevin was scary for just chasing Marion, can you imagine the scares the whole town full of cats could cause if Sabrina isn't the first one to find them? ... A small part of me that likes dark humor wants some regular birds to try and save their skin by mentioning they are human... and the cat's take painfully long to weigh if it's worth the risk.

[fenrirblack]

If we do start seeing more human becoming animals we are going to have to find ways to differentiate them from the regular pets and ferals. Marion has his bracelet, Lois has her bandana, and Steward his glasses.

And Keene has his sunglasses, Sasha has her bangles and Thomas has... where were we going with this again?

There are going to be a few exceptions with the pets but they already have their collars so they don't really count anyway so this is more to differentiate from the ferals but also pets since any human won't want to walk around with a collar. Anyway like all those characters listed, we need something that makes them stand out. Keene's sunglasses for example scream "I'm important and different from my siblings" while on the other hand Thomas was so unimportant that he didn't get any kind of original trademark. Something that says I'm not feral and I'm not a stray or some pet and I'm special.

I am really just surprised everyone seems to be pretty chill about him being a squirrel now. You would think people would be freaking out that a human somehow got turned into a squirrel and nobody knows how or why instead of just going "Oh, hi Maron, so you're a squirrel now? That sucks!"

The funny thing about that is, what would be the point of freaking out? As long as it is just Marion then does suck for him but despite it being unusual its whatever. Another way of looking at this is that humans as a culture have become so overexposed to this from media that when it does happen it doesn't seem like a big deal. Desensitized to the supernatural as long as it doesn't affect them personally. It's honestly sad but good for Marion in a way that something so big and world changing is easily ignored. Look at Bronson again, a person he's known for years is suddenly an animal, reality as he's known it is now changed forever, and all he cares about is whether or not Lois is available. The thing is that is probably the most likely reaction from almost anyone Marion will come across i.e. "How does/can this affect me?" There will be those who are curious or scandalized by it but they're the minority at this point I would think.

Anyone see Hop? Fred freaks out about E.B. being able to talk and overly panics but no one else does. E.B. orders food at a restaurant and the waitress doesn't bat an eye. It's one of my favorite moments in the movie because it goes against this idea that the strange and abnormal deserves a freak out when it really doesn't. The rabbit talks, big whoop. The squirrel used to be human, sucks to be him but kinda cool that it's possible. The clown is in the sewer, okay that's when you need to start panicking. The best advice I could give in any abnormal situation is keep your distance, calmly judge the situation, and react accordingly.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Though you just know that other people will most likely be curious and instead of trying to be rational about it, have a full scale freakout and decide that Marion somehow deserved this and react by shunning and thinking that if they get too close to him they could be next )which honestly could actually be possible).

[Ash Greytree]

Regarding Marion needing friends among the animals, I personally hope that we don't wind up with a situation where most of his animal friends are just his human friends turned into animals, with Rockstar and Sanchez being the only two that've been animals their whole lives. That’d dip a bit too far into cliché territory, and a plot with something like that feels like (to me, at least) it’d have to be uncomfortably stretched out over the course of the next week of in-comic time that they’re all in school. I can’t see that happening. Rick may want to skip time ahead so that seasonal strips or arcs for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and winter holidays can happen with all the characters involved.

[NHWestoN]

Though you just know that other people will most likely be curious and instead of trying to be rational about it, have a full scale freakout and decide that Marion somehow deserved this and react by shunning and thinking that if they get too close to him they could be next )which honestly could actually be possible).

Well, it is pretty much public knowledge now. It's hard to imagine that all of Marion's classmates aren't pondering this event and its implications for their own lives. After all, if some unknown force, object, or person can turn Lois's boyfriend into a squirrel, then aren't we all in danger of the same fate? Parade of paranoias now playing at a high school near you.

What we fear we want dead...

[fenrirblack]

Regarding Marion needing friends among the animals, I personally hope that we don't wind up with a situation where most of his animal friends are just his human friends turned into animals, with Rockstar and Sanchez being the only two that've been animals their whole lives. That’d dip a bit too far into cliché territory, and a plot with something like that feels like (to me, at least) it’d have to be uncomfortably stretched out over the course of the next week of in-comic time that they’re all in school. I can’t see that happening.

Two reasons why I don't see that happening either. One being I doubt Rick would want to make that many new characters when he has an oversized cast already. Two logistics would cause a problem. Marion is an isolated incident. But if suddenly four or five more teens change in the course of a single week then we have a pandemic on our hands which will create a story problem that goes against the fundamental points of the comic. Steward and Thomas being back to back was one thing. Lois is the most likely target to follow Marion but beyond that if more humans are going to be changed it needs to be done gradually with "high risk targets" which means those who will not be missed like Thomas and Steward.

Though you just know that other people will most likely be curious and instead of trying to be rational about it, have a full scale freakout and decide that Marion somehow deserved this and react by shunning and thinking that if they get too close to him they could be next )which honestly could actually be possible).

Well, it is pretty much public knowledge now. It's hard to imagine that all of Marion's classmates aren't pondering this event and its implications for their own lives. After all, if some unknown force, object, or person can turn Lois's boyfriend into a squirrel, then aren't we all in danger of the same fate? Parade of paranoias now playing at a high school near you.

What we fear we want dead...

Marion Cooties.
It's been a while since I've been in high school but teens have always been more openminded and resilient (borderline stupid) than their adult counterparts. Like I said before they'll be more curious or even simply not care because Marion's condition doesn't affect him. It is possible that he'll be shunned, actually that is the most likely scenario with a few exceptions like Bronson who wants something from him and those who are curious. There will probably be a lot more whispering behind his back than anything. If people are foolish enough to believe that Marion cooties can change them then it might work out better for Marion and prevent harassment. But if they were smart they would realize that if Marion was contagious then he wouldn't even be allowed at school in the first place.

[Ash Greytree]

Two reasons why I don't see that happening either. One being I doubt Rick would want to make that many new characters when he has an oversized cast already. Two logistics would cause a problem. Marion is an isolated incident. But if suddenly four or five more teens change in the course of a single week then we have a pandemic on our hands which will create a story problem that goes against the fundamental points of the comic. Steward and Thomas being back to back was one thing. Lois is the most likely target to follow Marion but beyond that if more humans are going to be changed it needs to be done gradually with "high risk targets" which means those who will not be missed like Thomas and Steward.

Good points. Marion being an isolated incident whose cause of transformation needs to be tracked down makes for a better story than a transformation pandemic. I still think there's room for new animal characters, though.

Thinking more about the idea I came up with earlier, where Keene scouts more prey animals for the ECP and requires Marion and them to meet up frequently. That’d be a good way to introduce more animal characters that could potentially appear in future arcs as the status quo changes. It’d also be a good way for Marion to meet and befriend others in the same boat as him in regards to having to adjust to new circumstances and dealing with hardships based on that, as well as characters around his same size and possibly age. Having King serve as a life coach for Marion would be nice and is something I want to see, but I believe that Marion also needs peers, not just mentor(s). It’d be funny if a familiar face showed up to one of the meetings (I probably spent way too much time writing and coming up with something that'll never happen, but here goes):

[Marion watches as animals start walking into the room: Lana comes in to watch over the meeting, followed by a porcupine, a couple of rats, a shrew, and a squirrel with brown-ish fur. The squirrel notices Marion and they make eye contact.]
Marion: Wait, you...
Squirrel: You...?
[Marion walks over to the squirrel, trying to contain his anger and trauma with how that day went, but failing.]
Marion: What are you doing here? Wanna finish the job that your acorn and that 10-foot drop couldn’t get done?
Squirrel: [Nervous, not wanting a scene to start.] Look, I’m sorry, okay, I’m here to be a part of the-
Marion: [Gets genuinely angry now.] It’s gonna take more than “sorry” to make up for contributing to the worst day of my life by calling me a narc and almost breaking my neck!
[It’s quiet; All the other animals stare at the two squirrels. The squirrel opposite Marion has tears in their eyes. Lana is up close to them but doesn’t step in. She recognizes that Marion needs to work this out.]
Marion: [Notices that he caused a scene, takes a step back from the brown-furred squirrel and sighs.] I’m- [He takes a deep breath and let’s out another sigh to calm down, looking down at the floor and with his hands in his new pants pockets.] I’m sorry. It’s just what you did that day was really mean, and icing on top of a cake made of all this other really humiliating stuff.
Seeing you come in dredged it all back up on top of everything else I’ve dealt with this last week.
Squirrel: [Sniffles a bit and rubs their elbow, feeling guilty and nervous at the same time.] O-oh. That’s... it doesn’t make up for it, but that day was bad for me too. I was messing around with the humans and trying to chat one up about what school is like. A security dog saw me and chased me off campus. My mom and dad yelled at me, told me I could’ve gotten killed, and all that. I ran off to cool down, but I needed to take my anger out on something, and that’s when I ran into you talking to those cops…
[Marion nods, and starts to feel sympathy for the other squirrel. He’s had those days before. He wants to hear more about why they were talking to humans, though.]
Marion: So, you wanted to know what school was like?
Squirrel: School and human stuff in general. There were these flyers put up all over the neighborhood one day, looking for animals like me and everyone else here. I showed one to Mom and Dad and they leapt at the chance to get me to join. Real weird for them to be so eager for me to sign up…
[Marion thinks to himself: “Because the ECP is a lot safer than bothering random kids at school and possibly getting eaten by a dog…”]
Marion: [Slightly sarcastically.] Yeah, that does seem weird.
Squirrel: [They smile, tears now gone. Realizing that tensions have relaxed, they become more enthusiastic.] So that’s why I’m here now. It’s real exciting! And to top that off, there’s a squirrel as old as me in the ECP too!
Marion: Wait, what? [Marion’s confused and looks around the room to see if another squirrel walked in.]
Squirrel: It’s gonna be awesome going through the ECP with you!
[Marion realizes that they’re talking about him. Too embarrassed to admit that he can’t tell animals of different ages apart (and the squirrel will likely learn soon that Marion used to be human), he goes along with it.]
Marion: Oh. You’re right, it’s going to be fun!
[All the other animals had started talking amongst themselves earlier when they saw the situation had been defused. Lana talks to the two squirrels]
Lana: It’s nice to see you two getting along. Now, before we get started, I need to hand out your name tags for the orientation…
[Lana hands Marion and the new squirrel their name tags. No big reveal or twist here, just giving the name of a character who could become a major part of Marion’s story.]

[trekkie]

I want to see Marion graduate, and maybe get a clue as to what made him a squirrel. As for transformations, I think Lois is one of the more probable possibilities, not only because of her bandanna but because she is close to Marion, and Steward might target her to try get Marion to cooperate with him. If she is transformed, I think she’d Make a good predatory animal.

[Gameb18oy]

I want to see Marion graduate, and maybe get a clue as to what made him a squirrel. As for transformations, I think Lois is one of the more probable possibilities, not only because of her bandanna but because she is close to Marion, and Steward might target her to try get Marion to cooperate with him. If she is transformed, I think she’d Make a good predatory animal.

I wonder what could change them if not the coin. Do wish the transformation didn't seem random in what it turns you into right now, I like rules present with magical items, limitations help you know how an author can utilize them, I mean, its a large part of why the death note is interesting

[Amazee Dayzee]

Somewhere done the line we will figure out how the transformations are occurring and why but right now we need to deal with Marion's upcoming humiliation conga. XD

Plus I bet several non-vital organs that Steward is in on this somehow.

[GameCobra]

Everyone hear making all of these theories and missing out on all the Rick shinanigans that will involve Marion in a tutu.

Closest thing we'll get in a long while until the Maxwell wedding dress.

[NHWestoN]

Everyone hear making all of these theories and missing out on all the Rick shinanigans that will involve Marion in a tutu.

Closest thing we'll get in a long while until the Maxwell wedding dress.

Maxwell will make a wonderful blushing bride - he may be the blushingest of all the cast.

[Amazee Dayzee]

If Maxwell is the bride, does that mean we can have Sabrina as the maid-of-honor since he's marrying his groom Grape? XD